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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

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Have Traditional Bridge, Tooth Number 15, Upper Left Decayed And Needs A Root Canal. What Can Be Done?

I have a traditional bridge. My dentist has told me the rear anchor, tooth number 15, upper left, is decayed and needs a root canal . He s not even sure it will be strong enough for a new bridge. One plan he has is to cut the traditional bridge at the decayed anchor and, in effect, make a cantilever bridge out of the bridge. He will also extract the rear, decayed, tooth. Is this a good plan?
posted on Sat, 9 Mar 2013
Twitter Sat, 9 Mar 2013 Answered on
Twitter Wed, 31 Jul 2013 Last reviewed on
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Dentist,  's  Response
hello and welcome,

as per the details provided,your dentist is trying to save the teeth with deep dental carries by root canal treatment.
usually the strength of root canal treated teeth is very low since the teeth is nonvital.
your dentist"s plan is acceptable.
the output of the bridge placed can be predicted once the bridge is inserted into your mouth.
eventually,the spaces arised from extracted teeth has to be occupied with bridge to prevent mesial or distal drift of adjacent teeth causing mal-alignment.
Also make sure that,you are utilising both sides of teeth for chewing food equally .this will help in easy adaptation of new bridge.
take care.
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Dentist,  Dr. Anshumala Singh's  Response
Dear friend,

Thanks for sharing your concern.

if your dentist is not sure about the strength offered by a particular tooth due to any reason like decay or bone loss then definitely you should avoid that option.

I too think in this case you should go for the next option offered by him.that is to cut the traditional bridge and give cantilever support.

hope it helps.

thanks
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Dentist,  Dr. Gunjan Gupta's  Response
Hello there,

Thanks for your query.
Root canal tooth is week as compare to original tooth because it is non vital and tooth structure is already decayed and also trimmed during procedure.

If your tooth is not strong enough,extraction is a good option and then proceed with the new and strong bridge.

So i would suggest you your dentist is right,you shoul follow him.
Hope this will be helpful.

Take care.
Dr.Gunjan Gupta
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Dentist,  Dr. Yogesh Tripathi's  Response
hello
if the tooth itself is decayed but the periapical area of the tooth has no lesion than you can go for a post and core treatment and then can have traditional bidge on that post.....but if thats not the case than let that tooth be extracted and include adjacent tooth for a new bridge....cantilever would not be a good idea if you are thinking for a long lasting satisfaction
thanks
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Dentist,  Dr. Qazi Ammara's  Response
hi,

Thanks for asking the query,

Your Dentist is correct, root canal treated tooth is brittle and becomes weak for support,moreover it gets trimmed for bridge placement.
If your Dentist is not sure with the support of the tooth idea of placing cantilever bridge will not be helpful.
If there is no presence of periapical infection you can go for post and core with the tooth.
Or else go for the exatraction of the tooth and take support from the adjacent tooth for the bridge.

Hope this helps out,

Regards...
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Dentist,  Dr. Prachi Mishra's  Response
hi there
see if your dentist is not sure about the strength of the bridge.
then the option of getting it removed\ extracted and making a cantilever bridge is a good...
but i would suggest you to consult some endodontist and also a prosthodontist before going for any further treatment....
hope it helps
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1 Doctor agrees with this answer

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Have Traditional Bridge, Tooth Number 15, Upper Left Decayed And Needs A Root Canal. What Can Be Done?

hello and welcome, as per the details provided,your dentist is trying to save the teeth with deep dental carries by root canal treatment. usually the strength of root canal treated teeth is very low since the teeth is nonvital. your dentist s plan is acceptable. the output of the bridge placed can be predicted once the bridge is inserted into your mouth. eventually,the spaces arised from extracted teeth has to be occupied with bridge to prevent mesial or distal drift of adjacent teeth causing mal-alignment. Also make sure that,you are utilising both sides of teeth for chewing food equally .this will help in easy adaptation of new bridge. take care.